Many processes are known for the treatment of textile materials in which either one somehow influences or changes the structure of the textile fibres themselves, or one treats the textile fibres with chemicals which will be more or less strongly absorbed thereon. All the well-known processes of this kind do no doubt improve one or other of the properties of the textile materials thus treated, but these treatments seem inevitably to cause other properties to deteriorate.
It is thus known for instance in the permanent-waving or crimping of straight hair, to treat either human hair or even wool with keratolytic agents, then to shape the hair or wool and finally to fix or oxidize the shaped hair, as is described for example in GB-PS 453 700.
It is also known, as described in DE-OS 26 53 958, to impart so-called permanent trouser creases to trousers made from keratin-containing fibres by treating the relevant areas with reducing agents so as to open the disulphide linkages, the desired creases being then pressed in and set or hardened. Unfortunately however it is not possible by this procedure to achieve a really permanent shaping, in the sense of a pleating or crease formation which is maintained even after wetting or actual washing.
Attempts have been made, for example as described in DE-OS 20 25 454, to polymerize vinylpolymers onto wool fibres or the hair; or, as described in DE-AS 16 15 166, to polyermise N-vinylpyrrolidone onto wool fibres or the hair. Similarly, in order to make wool shrinkproof, the polymerization thereon of other synthetics such as acrylamide has been proposed, as described in US-PS 3 005 730. These procedures, however, yield woollen materials which have a "hard" feel to them and which will drape only stiffly - they are quite unsuitable for use on softly draping silk.
It is furthermore also known, for example from DE-AS 1 106 725, to treat cellulosic woven fabrics with thiodiglycols and an acid catalyst so as to improve their crease resistance, and after drying to heat them to about 170.degree. C. in order to harden the cellulose by exchange between the sulphide residue and the OH-groups of the cellulose in the fibres; and in polyurethane finishing it is possible to replace the thiodiglycols according to DE-AS 1 146 029 and 1 110 606 with polyepoxides or other polymerisation products, or according to DE-PS 9 67 641, DE-OS 24 21 888, DE-OS 28 37 081 and DE-AS 19 16 331, with isocyanate- polyaddition products with an amine compound. These procedures however are at best only suitable for cellulosic fibres, and are not at all suitable for wool and silk; while even the cellulosic materials thus treated have a bad "feel" to them.
Broadly similar processes have been proposed, and recommended also for polyurethane finishing, in which a permanent pleating effect is achieved by means of treatment with an urethane emulsion as described in DE-OS 23 60 050, 24 30 508, 25 51 436 or DE-OS 19 09 095; and the procedures can be further improved according to DE-OS 25 38 020 by the use of a reducing agent of the bisulphide type. However, all these procedures, which depend on the use of polymerisates, tend to spoil the soft "feel" of woollen textiles treated in this way.
Finely-divided metal oxides, particularly aluminium oxide, have been used to improve the abrasion-resistance of textile materials, as described in DE-OS 16 19 088, DE-AS 1 127 861 and 1 138 371, but polyethylene or another film-former is then needed to be present to ensure fixation of the metal oxide. Metal oxides have also been used in suspension, according to DE-PS 679 465 and 905,967, to impact a matt finish to textiles. These proposals however have given no improvement in shape-retention, to the textile materials.